The Offline Gathering
by Arcadia Ryter
Summary: Silabus has an offline get-together, and more people come than he would've liked. At least one person came that he was happy to see. HaseoxSilabus HENTAI YAOI YURI WARNING
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Silabus!" Silabus turned to see his guildmaster, Haseo, ride up beside him on a steambike.

"Wow, Haseo. Did you get that customized?" Silabus asked, getting closer to inspect it. Yes, it had been changed a bit. The engine looked like a... 140, maybe? And the armor was tricked out. Geez, that would cost an easy ten, twenty thousand GP, likely a lot more. Haseo must be loaded.

"Yeah, but it doesn't change much." Haseo said. "It's traction still sucks."

"Oh, well, that's too bad." Silabus said sadly. He kind of wanted the bike, now that it didn't look like crap.

Haseo was silent a moment, then Silabus got a Whisper from him.

_Gaspard and Atoli want to meet offline. They need a place to stay, though. Please tell me that you can house them. _Silabus blinked. Was the great Haseo, PKK extrordinaire, the Terror of Death, begging him?

_Uh, sure, I guess. My apartment is small though._ Silabus answered back.

_That's great! _Haseo then did something Silabus had never seen the likes of before. He typed in the "/smile" command, and Haseo was genuinely smiling.

Like smiling! Really smiling! Silabus' mind was boggled. He must've typed in the command for amazement, because Haseo stopped smiling and looked at him funny.

_Is there something wrong?_ Haseo was still on Whisper mode.

_Uh, no. No, Not really. _

_Well, then, I guess I'll log out before the Terrible Two find me, and harass me, again. _Haseo said, scratching his head.

_Why are they harassing you?_

_They want me to come with them. _He looked around disinterestedly. Dol Dona's bright sun glared off his silver hair, even the parts that looked like horns. He really did choose a beautiful character.

Hold up. Silabus' thoughts screeched to a halt. Rewind, Playback, he ordered it. He listened to his thoughts again with the utmost ardor. Yuuichi blushed behind his FMD, as the thought actually was thought about. Haseo is...Beautiful? When did that happen? Maybe he could put it down to artistic appreciation... Dammit, he wasn't an artist. OKAY, that didn't work. Hmm, maybe he was gay? He quickly looked up some porn. He stared at the woman's breasts. Damn. It was a possiblity. Or maybe it was because she wasn't very pretty and looked to be about forty. He clicked out quickly.

Haseo began to speak again.

_Well... I guess I'll go now. Bye, Silabus._

_Wait! _Silabus clutched at Haseo's bike.

_What? _Haseo asked.

_You should come! It'll be sooo much better with you there!_

_Silabus...? _He asked, confused, torn, maybe?

_Pleeese come?_ Silabus begged.

Haseo was motionless for a few seconds, in which Yuuichi held his breathe.

_Sure. I'll come, Silabus. _He gave in.

Silabus smiled. _My name is Yuuichi._

Haseo was so startled, he fell off the bike. Silabus was brought down with it, so he, Haseo and the bike made a tangle of parts. Silabus quickly got up, and picked the bike off Haseo. Losing contact with Haseo, it disappeared. Silabus offered a hand to the still quite shocked Haseo.

Haseo smiled again, but not happy smile, more like a "I-Accept-Your-Challenge" grin that bared his kind of big canines. He reached for and grabbed Silabus' hand and pulled himself up. Still holding Silabus' hand, he whispered, _And my name is Ryou. Nice to meet you._

Author's notes: Haha. Short, ne? Ah, Well. What are you going to do? As always, reading is nice, but reviews are better. Flames will be used to roast weiners. ... ... I know what you're thinking. And you're a pervert.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ryou stepped out of his bathroom, steam pouring out behind him. He glanced at the clock as he dried his hair in a fuzzy towel. Hmm... Still some time left. Sighing, he resigned himself to his Chemistry homework. He sprawled across his bed and curled up with a warm can of soda, and tried to get into conversion rates and solids and... plasma? Never has he been anything close to an amazing student, and that year or so in the hospital did not help AT ALL. He glanced around for anything that he could use as an excuse for not doing his homework. A grin broke out on his face as he realized that his parents were out and that was a computer. So, he sat down at his conservative navy blue rolly chair and logged into The World.

Haseo sat at Dol Dona's stairs, leading to the Chaos gate. Now that he was here, or as here as he could ever be, what should he do? He clicked through other computer programs as he thought, checking up on things like his e-mail and the Crimson VS standings. Yes! He pumped the air, clicked a couple of buttons to get through the screen, then realized that he pulled the cord of his controller out of the socket. Though that couldn't get to him now. He was nearly the Crimson VS champion! Finally! He then realized that Gaspard would be really depressed if he did become champion. That's pretty much the only thing the kid has going for him. So, he thought up a good idea for making Gaspard happier. But, he'd like some back-up. Silabus's image flashed in his mind, and he felt himself begin to blush.

What? What was this? Blushing? Oh, no, definitely NOT a Haseo move. But Silabus was nearly the only one on, he noticed as he scrolled down the address list. It was either Silabus, or... Endurance. Or Saku. Or Piros. Not a good selection. One hated him, another devoted to him, and another devoted to himself. Definitely not in that order. Ryou grinned behind his M2D. So, it's Silabus for tonight. But, He thought angrily at himself, I've got to work on not blushing. The party is only a couple of days away.

Haseo sent a short mail to Silabus. Silabus gave his usual, "Ack, gimme two seconds, and don't run away to the field without me again!" reply. Well, usual ever since Haseo invited him a week or so ago to go level up, and Silabus didn't get there fast enough, so he went alone to a field a good four, five levels above his own alone. Don't get it wrong, he had tremendous fun, and he actually used some of the healing items he had fifty of all the time. Gained six levels, too. Then again, Haseo was always the one who gained levels faster than anyone he knew. Silabus should really be the one on level ninety, but he was still lagging at about seventy.

Silabus warped into Dol Dona, and said, "Hi, Haseo! Where are we going today?"

"Silabus..." Haseo said slowly, carefully.

Little did he know that Yuuichi, upon looking at Ryou's character, and hearing his name said so quiet, immediately had a fluttering feeling in his chest.

"Y-yes? Haseo?" He asked quickly.

"Do you..." He glanced down, then looked up again, with a big evil smile on his face. Silabus instantly lost the fluttery feeling and gained an oppressive weight on his shoulders. What does he want now?

"Do you want to go on a suicide mission?" Haseo finally asked.

Silabus was not ready for that. "W-what? What do you mean by that?"

"Do you want to come with me or not?" Haseo put in a grumpy order. Maybe, he doesn't want to come with me?

"Of course I'll come. As long as there's a possiblity of it not being suicidal. :)" He smiled.

Haseo smiled back, as his mild depression lifted.

"We're going to the area Theta Competing Time's Starlit Sky." Haseo said mischievously, turning his back on Silabus, and to the Chaos Gate.

It took a moment to register. Then Silabus, nearly dead with shock said, "Wait! That area is level ninety-seven! I can't survive a single hit from anything that str--" He was cut off as Dol Dona disappeared from view and the area began to load.

The field was a desert type, and at night. The light was always a bit dim, but enough to see by. Which is why Haseo liked the dark areas so much, and he memorized most of the key words that went to night areas.

"Haseo..." Silabus hated it, but he did sound scared, "Haseo, let's go back. We can go to a nice level seventy three or something... OMFG, What are those monsters?" He was referring to the large machine-like monsters wandering around in a circlular path.

Haseo looked closely. "They look like Gobcannon seventy-sevens." He said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not even near level seventy-seven, nor do I think I can take any of them on. Please, Haseo, let's go back." Ryou was disappointed in Silabus, but he wasn't going back, and that meant Silabus wasn't either. Besides, it wasn't really a suicide mission, if you knew what you were doing.

He pressed the square button, took out his steambike, and pulled up to where Silabus was cowering near the Platform.

"Get on."

"Huh?"

"You can get on if you press square. Come on. I'll protect you."

"Haseo..." Yuuichi had rarely heard anything that touching from Haseo's lips, so he jumped on the bike with a goofy grin.

"All right then. Hold on." And Haseo gased the thing. Yuuichi was nearly beside himself, due to the large amount of information and scenery going by very quickly. _It's not supposed to be viewed at this speed!_ He didn't know what to worry about first; a seizure or his FMD breaking. Luckily, it was over soon, and Silabus sighed a breathe of relief. Then he noticed what Haseo was trying to do.

"ARGH! HASEO!" Ryou rubbed his ear on his shoulder, nudging the M2D back down over his ear, to prevent the need of letting go of the controller, "Don't get so close to the freaking monsters! Or we'll die!"

"I saved before I came. Didn't you?" He knew the other didn't.

Silence.

Silabus waiting with baited breathe to be destroyed as soon as Haseo goes far to close to the damned Gobcannons. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the impending battle music and the vibration of the controller.

Ryou, however, was doing his best not to touch the monsters. He carefully, ever so carefully, drove the bike around the moving monsters, and onto the altar. He rammed into the treasure on the altar and gained the item Symbol Fragment.

Silabus was still not expecting this. He didn't hear the battle music, only something that sounded like Haseo got something. Did Haseo win a fight by himself? Was he really that strong?

Then he opened his eyes, and realized that, no, Haseo isn't THAT crazy hyped-up, he just got the treasure. So he's sneaking up on the monsters and taking the treasures? Clever.

"How do you do that?" Silabus asked as they rode away from that altar.

"It's the bike. It's customized to not be seen by monsters."

"Oh. Hey, then. Wait. That means it wasn't really a suicide mission? You're such a dramatic--"

"Actually." That one word stopped Silabus from speaking further. "I still might accidently hit something."

"Oh." Damn. And Silabus thought he was safe, too.

"And that's why I've brought enough Smoke Screens to make a novice survive the place."

And that's when Silabus smacked Haseo's head. Haseo just laughed, and soon Silabus was laughing, too. Just because it was funny.

They made quick work of the area, getting all of the Fragments and driving to the Beast Temple. They disboarded the bike and opened the door to the Beast Statue.

"Hey, Silabus, can I have the item?"

"I guess, since that's the only reason we're here at all, right?"

"Ah ha. You got me." He opened the Beast Treasure, and the item he was hoping for came out, Azure Orca.

"Hey, I've never seen that item before. What does it do?"

"It's a Crimson VS card. I've already got nine of these, so I have to get rid of it before I log out for the day."

"Huh? Why'd you--" Haseo walked out of the temple and sat on the steps, looking up at the moon. Silabus sat down next to him.

He continued. "Why'd you do all of this for something you can't even use?"

Ryou grinned. "Because I can use it."

As soon as Haseo told Silabus his plan, Silabus again had the thought that Haseo was a really good friend. And he did choose an amazing character design.

They found Gaspard on when they came back to Dol Dona, and Haseo gave him the gift.

Gaspard was wide-eyed. "Oh, WOW! I've never seen this card before! I've never even heard of it! Thanks Haseo!"

"Don't mention it." Haseo said.

Silabus wondered why Haseo was being so short, then remembered that Haseo was always short with everyone. It's just how he was.

"Ah, crap." Haseo groaned.

"Hm? What's up, Haseo?" Silabus asked.

"Yeah, what's up?" Gaspard parroted.

"My parents are home, and I don't have my homework done. I have to go now."

"Okay. See you, Haseo!" Silabus said.

"Bye-bye! Thanks again for this card!" Gaspard was happy. That's good.

Ryou pulled off his M2D in time to jump on his bed and pretend to be doing homework, when his mother walked in.

"Oh, Ryou, you're not done yet?" She asked, worriedly.

"No. I'm not." He snapped.

"Okay, just get to bed soon, okay, Ryou?

"Yeah, yeah." Then he remembered. "Hey, Mom?"

She had been walking out the door when he called to her. She turned around excitedly. "Yes? What is it?"

"I'll be at a friend's house this weekend. All weekend."

Her face fell. "Okay. Have fun, then."

She quietly closed the door.

Ryou fumed. What the hell was she hoping for? For me to tell her I remember everything now?

She's hopeless. It's hopeless. He gathered his stuff and turned off his bedside lamp.


	3. Chapter 3

"Haseo!" Gaspard shouted from behind him.

"What?" Haseo asked angrily, because if you had decided to go on a suicide mission to get a virtual card instead of your Chem homework, and you got detention because of it, you be angry, too.

"Have you seen Silabus lately?" Gaspard asked. "I haven't seen him since last night."

"He's probably at work or school."

"Work?" He said it as if he's never heard of the word before. "Silabus works?" He asked carefully.

"Yeah." Haseo hated it when Gaspard was stupid. Well, when anyone was stupid really. "That's what people do when they live by themselves."

"Silabus lives by himself?" Gaspard asked slowly.

"Yeah. Didn't he ever tell you any of this?"

"No. Not me." Gaspard seemed to deflate.

Haseo was insanely happy for no real reason now. Maybe it's because he felt special, because Silabus must like him a lot to tell him things that not even Gaspard knew.

"Well, that's a good reason to go to this gathering, so that he can tell you this stuff." Haseo said, trying to cheer Gaspard up.

"Hey, you're right!" Gaspard had lifted spirits again. "And we can find out more about other people, too."

"Like, who? Atoli?"

"No, Like Kuhn, and Zelkova, and Alkaid..." Ryou moved his mouthpiece far enough away so that Gaspard wouldn't hear the "Oh, shit." coming from his mouth.

Haseo sent off a hurried letter to Silabus:

Silabus,

Problem. Gaspard invited other people to the gathering. What should we do?

He recieved a reply a minute later.

Haseo,

Just have them all go to this park to gather. I won't let strangers into my apartment, expecially a lot of them.

Silabus

Haseo told Gaspard where to tell the rest to be, and logged off soon afterward.

He walked around his room a while, then began punching his punching bag in a rythymic beat.

He was shocked for some reason. Silabus' shortness, maybe.

He tried to find the reason he was so angry. He sat and, with his back against his bag, he thought about what he wanted. He shifted to put his head in his arms, crossed over his legs. He gave up that after realizing that he didn't know what he wanted. He decided that he should figure out what he didn't want anymore, and go with that.

He didn't want Silabus to not talk a lot. He didn't want more people there. He didn't want anyone besides Silabus there. He...

He jerked his head up. No... It can't be... Can it?

He wanted... Silabus. Like... For himself. Like...that.

He hit his head back up against the punching bag. So, that's it then. Ryou was gay.

Just for Silabus.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: OMFG, I hate the changes they made to this site! I can't even find my stories anymore! V.V But, I shall triumph. Because my readers reviewed and I don't want to leave them hanging...

Chapter four

Kouta got up early the next morning. He had packed his bag the night before, and he could hardly sleep for the excitement coursing through his veins. He was really going to meet Silabus! And Haseo! And Atoli and Sakubo and Kuhn! And his mom had given him permission to stay the night! But it was going to take a long train ride to get there. He would have to leave soon. He heard an alarm start to sound in the next room.

Kouta absentmindedly turned on the coffee pot on his way back to his room. _Let's see... _He thought diligently. I brought my clothes, a blanket, a pillow, my toothbrush, some toothpaste, a book on "The World" to read while on the train, and his deck of Crimson Versus cards. Seems like everything is there, he thought as he heard the coffee pot ringing. He poured a cup carefully, and added a little sugar and milk. Then he brought it to his mother's room.

"Hey, Mom?" She was still asleep, even though her alarm was still resounding very loud. He set the cup of coffee down on the bedside table and flicked it off. His mother looked so peaceful, sleeping with her head nearly completely covered in the blankets, her long black hair sprad all across her pillow. He hated to wake her, she never got enough sleep, working two part-time jobs to support both of them, but she did have to go to work soon.

Kouta prodded her in the head. "Wake up." No response. "Mom..." He shook her head slightly. No response. Sleeping persistantly still, huh? I can be persistant, too, Kouta thought as he took a deep breathe and yelled, "MOOOM!"

She sat up immediately, shocked out of sleep and groggily asked, "Is there a fire?"

"No, but there's coffee," Kouta said, offering her the cup.

"Ah, Kouta, you're so good to your mother." She said taking the cup happily and taking a big sip. "Ah..." She sighed appreciatively. "What would I do without you?"

"You would sleep." He grinned.

"Ah, too true..."

"So, am I still allowed to go the slumber party?" He asked again to make sure. He must have asked a few times already, but he wanted to make sure, just in case.

"Yes, Kouta, yes, go." She danced in bed. "I can't believe my Kouta-chan is going to his first slumber party!" Then a thought hit her. "Hey, Kouta, there won't be any _girls_ at this party, will there?"

"Yeah, one." He quickly started talking again when his mother made a shocked face at him, "But she's like, twenty, mom. She's _old_."

"OOH, KOUTA!" He rubbed his ears gentley, fearing he would have some hearing problems when older. "Going to parties with older women! You are growing up fast." She smiled, took another sip, and patted his head. "Don't worry about it. You can still go, Kouta-chan."

Kouta smiled. "Thanks, mom." He felt another twinge of guilt and fear. He doubted she would be so okay with it if she knew it was the first time he would actually meet any of them.

"You have to get going soon, don't you? Wait a second, you're taking the train, right?" He nodded. "Okay, did I give you enough to get there and back? Some extra for a souvenir or two? Hold on..." She bounded over to the other side of her bad and dug a few more thousand yen from her purse. "Here's some more, just in case of emergency." He took it, thanking her. He didn't want to take it, but she would've insisted. He would just leave it on top of the coffee pot when he left.

*******

Nanami woke to a flurry of noise in the next room over. Then, a loud bang. The frickin' birds were tweeting again, at what? She grabbed her alarm clock. Frickin seven in the morning. Retarded birds, she thought, as she got out of bed and padded over to Chigusa's room.

"Chigusa?" She asked knocking. "You aren't having that great of sex, are you?"

The door whipped open as her roommate, Chigusa, threw it against the wall. Her room was a complete wreck, compared to what it normally was. Clothes everywhere, bed unmade, she wasn't too much better looking.

"What if I was? Would you have knocked, still?" She was angry. That never happened. Hardly. Nanami kind of liked it. It was loads better than, 'Oh, no, go right ahead' Chigusa.

"Yeah. we could've made a party of it." As Chigusa began to get even more spitting mad, Nanami invited herself in. Surveying the room, she asked, "Going somewhere?" Damn birds still tweeting like mad. Nanami didn't hate birds before Chigusa brought these damn Atolis in.

Chigusa deflated. "Yeah..." She sounded like she was dying. "I don't know what to bring, I mean, there are going to be people I respect there, so I want to look nice, and then there are going to be children and hot men and beautiful women and--"

"You don't know what would be okay for all of them?" Nanami got to the point.

Chigusa nodded. "Right."

"Well," Nanami picked up a few clothes from the floor. "You want to look hot, but professional, and not," she picked up a lacy red bra that she gave Chigusa for her birthday. It still had the tags on it. She ripped the tags off, and tossed it on the small pile of clothes on the bed. She finished her sentence, "X-rated."

Chigusa nodded quickly, causing all of her long blonde hair to fall in her face. "Right!" She said, pushing it away, annoyed.

"Okay. This_ is_ going to take some work, but I think we can do it."

Chigusa smiled. It was so nice to have someone take care of her sometimes.

*******

By this time, Yuuichi was already up, had a thermos full of green tea in his hand, his messenger bag with his books for the day hanging off one shoulder, and walking to his first class. He slept very well, since he had studied so hard yesterday, he nearly forgot all about the party. He would have to stop by the grocery store and get some cake or something. He brushed his dyed brown hair out of his face, and remembered.

"Oh, shit!" Yuuichi swore loudly.

"Dude, chill." His friend, Tomoki, a pretty girl with the same major as he did, met him at a corner. "You can go get your porn later."

Green tea came out his nose. Not pleasant. "What!?"

"Still joking. What's wrong?" She was serious this time.

"I forgot that there are going to be people I don't know at the party." She was the only one around the school who knew about it, and, for the sake of it being for The World, she would go. In the world, she was a blue Lord Partizan named Namida, a Canard member.

"Dude, it'll be fine." She noted his worried expression, and added, "How bad could it be?"

_Besides the fact that there may be a few people who don't get along and the thing may end up a riot... I don't know._ He didn't answer.

******

"Mom, I'm going now!" Ryou yelled towards the kitchen.

"Wait! Ryou!" His mom walked to him. She studied him. "You aren't going in that, are you?" She questioned his baggy black jeans, black hoodie, and boots. "Maybe something a little less... evil?"

He grinned, angrily, and walked out the door without answering. Swinging his backpack with all the necessities onto his shoulder, he started to the train terminal, battling the fear to run back to his house.

What if no one liked him at the party? Would they ask him to leave? Could he deal with that?

He bent his head as he walked. He thought of Silabus, and Gaspard, and realized that he wouldn't be alone. He smiled for real this time, looking forward to the long train ride there, so that he would have enough time to level up a bit with his beat laptop.

Ryou looked to the sky, and wondered what everyone else was doing now.

*******

"Come on, let's go!" Chika shouted at the small group she was bringing. Many of her classmates played The World, and the chance at even meeting the great Haseo was so much that many asked to come when they heard Chika talking about it with her friends. Half of them were still amazed that Chika, their Chika, was the former arena emperor, Alkaid.

One wasn't surprised at all. Yuasa was very aware of Alkaid, and the reason she was going was not because of Haseo, the black rogue, but because of Silabus, the man who stole her heart. Even more people would be surprised to know that she, Yuasa-chan, was Moon Tree's Sixth Division Captain, Sophora. But she wouldn't tell anyone that. Well, maybe Silabus...

A/N: Haha. I'm baack. And I think I might be able to find my own stories soon. This is not PWP, as I first conceived it. So, you have to read even more of my crap! Thank you for those who reviewed. I may not have found the motivation to do this without it.

BTW, seriously. I really hate it when there are these little crappy mistakes in my work. But I'm not a computer. Please help me by reporting the darn things when you see them.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:Yes, I know everyone lives in different parts of Japan. But for the sake of ease in writing this fanfiction, they all live relatively close to Tokyo. In some cases, _in _Tokyo. Otherwise, I'd have such a problem getting the kids from Hokkaido there. Just go along with it, okay?

Chapter five

Yuuichi sat on the bench of the table, waiting for people to arrive. He hadn't brought any food; if they were hungry, they'd think of something they would want, and get it. It was the way of the teenaged soul, Yuuichi thought nostagically, to find and scavange food when and where you could. His teenaged years were drifting away to the sad, nihilistic world of adults. _But the World will keep me a teenager forever in my mind_, he thought with a grin. He didn't get anything to eat, but he did go to the store to get two bottles of Ramune and to the stationary store on the way to the park and bought the least amount of nametags they sold in a pack. One hundred. Far more than what they would use today, but it would be fun. So that everyone knew who they were really talking to. He already opened the package, scribbled 'Silabus' on the first one, and slapped it on his chest. Although anyone could easily see the similarity between himself and his character. He had similar colored hair to what Silabus had, and he also had a small ponytail at the nape of his neck, that held a small amount of hair that was a little longer than the rest of his hair length. He even went so far as to put on his bright green blazer. He would be recognized.

A small group of teens entered the park and milled around near someone who was playing with a very large dog. One went up to the person, spoke for a moment, then bowed and left the man alone. This spiked his attention. That, and the fact that they were an odd-looking bunch, very brightly colored and one was wearing a chim hat. Maybe...?

Yuuichi sat for a moment, then stood up, knowing that if he didn't he would be wondering about it for the rest of the day. Walking over, he noticed the small things in life he often noticed on his daily jogs; how nice the air smelled, how the grass felt underneath his feet, how blue the sky was, nearly blinding. The teens had noticed him coming when he was within speaking distance.

"Hello. Are you here for The World?" He put on his 'happy-ta-help-ya' smile that worked wonders in the virtual world.

The group visibly brightened.

"Yes," one outspoken girl said. She had shoulder length black hair, and Yuuichi immediately recognized her voice, so different it was.

"Alkaid!" Yuuichi said happily.

She got a 'I'm-creeped-out' look on her face. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm Silabus." Simultaneously, Alkaid and another girl gasped.

"Silabus. Oh, wow. It really is you, isn't it?" Alkaid said.

"Yeah, but here, I'm just plain old Yuuichi."

_Yuuichi... Such a nice name..._ Yuasa thought. She was blushing like crazy, but the other students didn't notice, because they were all focused on Silabus, friend of Haseo.

"Well, I've set up shop other this way. Will you come?" Yuuichi asked, getting a scarily resounding "YES!" from all involved, and began walking to the table areas, wondering, _If Alkaid brought this many people, how many will everyone else bring? _

They all crowded in at the tables. There were already so many people that they took up one table, and one kid brought out a blanket, where the leftover three sat.

_Counting me..._ Yuuichi thought, mildly fearing for his life now,_ that makes eight. Already more than what we began with... Oh, well._

Yuuichi showed everyone the name tags that he bought, and asked if anyone wanted one.

All but one asked for one, not being able to get over the novelty of having a "Hello, My Name Is..." and then having their Character names on them. He looked to the last one, the quietest one there, sitting on the edge of the blanket.

"Would you like one?" Yuuichi asked, politely.

She began to get very red in the face. Her classmates joked behind Yuuichi, "Look, her _glasses_ are fogging up."

Yuuichi turned to face them. "That isn't very nice." He felt kind of bad for causing the uncomfortable looks of guilt he glimpsed on the teens faces, but when he turned back to offer the tag to the one girl, she smiled and took it. Then, when she took the offered pen, she hesitated. _Everyone must be staring._ Yuuichi thought, and turned quickly to Chika Alkaid.

"What grade are you all in?" Yuuichi asked. While he kept the others attention with talk of grades and work, she wrote quickly, 'Sophora' on the tag, peeled off the back, and put it on carefully. No one noticed. She had decided on her newest character, although not her favorite, because it would cause the least, 'I've met you!' reactions from her classmates. Expecially Chika. Her in-game and out-of-game rival. Well, Nanase's rival in the game. The one that really showed she had a BAD crush on Silabus. This one might get a few reactions, but not so bad.

"How many people are you expecting here?" One guy asked Yuuichi.

"Honestly, I don't have a clue." Cue the raised eyebrows. "I was expecting only three, at the beginning. But then it sort of... grew."

"Who's gonna be here?" A girl to his left asked.

"Well, Gaspard--"

"The Crimson Versus Champion?" A girl asked.

"Yes, him. And Atoli--"

All at once,

"You mean the girl that follows Sakaki around?"

"The recruiter for Moon Tree?"

"Haseo's girlfriend?"

His eye twitched. "No, not Haseo's girlfriend. But the others, yes." He thought for a second, then continued, "Haseo..."

He waited for an interruption there, and surprisingly got none. They were all in thrall.

"And maybe Kuhn--"

The interruption this time was a collective sigh from all the girls, besides the quiet one and Alkaid, and groans from the men.

"I've heard Endurance will come, too."

"Wow, so... many Emperors." One guy said, utterly shell-shocked.

"Hey!" Chika leaned over and smacked the guy. It sounded like it hurt. "I was an Emperor, too, ya know."

"Yeah, well..." Obviously, Chika packed a punch outside of The World, too, as the guy rubbed the back of his head.

"Anyone else we might know?" A girl asked.

"Um, well, hm..." Yuuichi knawed on his knuckle. "No." He said. "That's all, I think..."

An idea popped into his head. "Oh, Zelkova, if he can."

Two girls squeed. Moon Tree members. Yuuichi could feel the rant starting in, then noticed a man standing off a ways, staring at them. Assuming he was another member of The World, Yuuichi waved him over. He came over cautiously, as if he wasn't sure he should be there.

"Hello. Are you here for The World?" Yuuichi asked again.

The man had an odd whispery way of speaking, as if he had respiratory troubles. "Yes..."

Yuuichi wasn't that much of a fool to not know who the man was.

"Endrance?"

The man smiled. "It is nice to meet you, Silabus."

The kids were in shock, besides Chika, who might as well have thrown herself at Endrance. She didn't tackle him, but stopped frighteningly close and said, "Endrance! You really are a man in the real world."

Silence.

"Why would you think otherwise?" He said, softly, taking a few steps backward to distance himself from the girl.

"Well, because of how often you hit on Haseo, of course!" Chika said.

"I don't do anything so crude as to hit on Haseo..."

"Well, what do you call it, then?" Chika wanted to know.

"Devoted affection." Endrance said, looking off into the distance. Chika coughed, choked, and Yuuichi could feel the others thinking, 'it's like a shojo manga, all's we need is the sparkles.'

"Well, um, Endrance?" Yuuichi broke into the silence that befell everyone.

"Yes?" Endrance was very good at the raised eyebrow look. His long light hair fell onto one of his eyes.

"What's your name?"

He paused. "Kaoru..."

"Do you want a name tag?"

Another pause. Yuuichi was getting a little uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Of course." Kaoru Endrance said.

"Alright." Yuuchi scribbled 'Endrance' on a tag and offered it to him. Kaoru didn't step forward, though. He was eyeing the girls, and not in the way Kuhn would be eyeing girls. He watched them warily, as if they were going to attack. Yuuichi stood, walked over and handed it to him.

"Thank you." Yuuichi felt as if he were being thanked for something more than giving him the name tag.

"NO NEED TO FEAR!" A loud yell from the parking lot made everyone turn to the parking lot. A man in glasses with a woman and a toddler walked toward them. Actually the man ran toward them, and proclaimed, "Piros the third, the silver white is here!"

Yuuichi introduced him more properly as his wife and child walked slowly towards the group. "This is Piros, a graphics designer for The World."

A collective 'oh' came over the group. They know this one, the one that runs around and shouting and stuff. Fun.

"And this is my lovely wife and fine son!" Piros said, introducing them to the woman and child.

Yuuichi could just feel it in his bones. This will end in catastrophe.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Ryou logged out and rolled the cord around his FMD. The train was only about five minutes away from his stop. He shoved his FMD, his laptop, and his controller in his bag with enough time to get a feel for where he was in the city, using the large map in his compartment. It was a nice stroll to the park. Not too far. Really easy for him.

He hopped off the train before a small surge of people rushed on. People usually did that sort of thing around him. Waiting for him to be gone from sight until they moved. Keeping far away from him. It was just something that happened when anyone dressed as he did, acted as he acted. Ryou was six foot, two inches. Whenever the damned Academy allowed him, he wore band shirts, black hoodies, and Tripp pants, the kind you can find at your normal Hot Topic store. All of these were factors, but Ryou knew the real reason was when he looked at someone, like he looked now at a business man, they stopped dead in their tracks, just like the poor man did. If looks could kill, he would be a mass murderer.

Maybe it was that one curse that Europeans believed in? He thought idly as he stepped onto the street. That evil eye thing? Maybe. It would be a really cool thing to have, able to curse someone with a glance.

Some pizza delivery person was pedalling his way through the fairly thick crowd that was a Tokyo street. He went down the street the park was on.

_Hey, wait. It's loud over here._ Ryou thought. Like a billion people are talking at once. He turned the corner and the first thought was, Of course, count on Yuuichi to arrange their meeting at a Carnival. Two pretty girls in scrubs walked by.

Nurse Carnival. Rawr. Ryou thought that he might as well make the best of it. He began threading his way through the crowd in search of Yuuichi, or Gaspard, or anyone. But really, how was he supposed to know who they are? He, himself, didn't look all that much like Haseo. Well, the haristyle was close, but his was black.

This carnival was crazy. There were no rides, just people walking around and talking. Hey. He noticed a bunch of people sitting in the grass with FMDs and M2Ds out. Playing "The World."

Ryou stood, processing. For so long that a few people noticed and backed away.

He looked around at the people. A chim-chim keychain, a backpack covered in Lucky Animal stickers, so many people with weird colored hair.

Holy hells. This didn't look good. This was "The World," in reality.

This was a lot of people. He didn't think he could place even a few of them. Ryou inched his way to the edge of the party. There were even vendors selling food to the crowd. Ryou was not very good at math, but he knew this had to be upwards around one thousand people. Where the hell was Yuuichi?

Ryou suddenly tuned into a conversation near him. He didn't know why until he pinpointed a voice that seemed oddly familiar. That high-pitched squeak, he knew that voice.

He slowly circled the group, looking nonchalant, until he found who was speaking. A slightly round boy, couldn't be much more than twelve years old, was speaking to someone about a specific card in the Crimson Vs decks they had out. A bunch of people had gathered around to listen to them speak. Ryou was sure when he saw the boy had a name tag on his shirt.

Hello, My name is... "Gaspard," it said in a large scrawl.

Ryou walked toward Gaspard, people moving away from him like polar opposite magnets. He stood looming above Gaspard.

Kouta suddenly stopped talking as he noticed that everyone's attention had gone off him and something behind him. He turned, squeaked, and fell back trying to crane his neck to see who was standing behind him.

"W-what do, do you--" Kouta began, trying to be brave, when the man spoke.

"Gaspard."

Kouta blinked. Well, he knew my screen name, so he must be a friend. But who...? People around him were uncomfortable. Should they beat the man back? But he didn't touch the kid yet. Should they really wait until the man does hurt him? Is someone bullying the Crimson Vs. Champion?

Ryou crouched onto his heels, so that he was around Gaspard's height.

"Don't recognize me, huh?" Ryou asked Gaspard.

"Who are you?" Kouta asked, a bit more safer feeling now. It definately wasn't because he could see his face now, that was actually scarier, first the man's silver eyes, then his eyebrow with a rod of metal through it, he was sort of creepy. But something about the way he spoke to him, who was it?

"Don't recognize your guild master, huh? I'm hurt."

Kouta's face broke into a grin the moment the man said guild master.

"Haseo!" Kouta bounced and tackled Haseo around the neck, causing Haseo to fall backward. This was one of the oddest pictures most assembled had seen in a while; a goth being lain on by the Crimson Vs. Champion. Should they feel... icked out?

"You're really Haseo, aren't you?" Kouta snuggled closer.

"Yes, and you've got three seconds to get off me." Ryou was being squashed. _He was heavy._

Kouta bounded off Haseo. Ryou picked himself up and shook the grass from his pants. His chains rattled. Gaspard seemed to be unable to keep himself to, well, himself. He grabbed onto Haseo's torso, and preceded to snuggle into his shirt. By now, people began to understand what was happening, and like the wind itself breathed the words, "Haseo. Black Rogue. Terror of Death."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Author's Notes: I love and hate .hack wiki. I love it for all of the information it gives me, and I hate it when it all out says, "Your characters are WRONG!" So, this is pretty much an alternate universe that is very closely related to the real .hack. The only thing I can never get quite right is the characters offline. It's all good. I think.

Gaspard, no, Kouta, the player behind Gaspard, was babbling on and on about things Ryou didn't really understand that well. He spoke much faster in real life than online. He was just a kid, a Crimson Vs. patterned shirt stretching over his large tummy, and jeans. He was tall for a thirteen-year-old, Ryou caught that information from a very quickly blurted sentence from the man himself. A little less than six feet, around 5'8". Ryou didn't think he could impose his image of what he thought Gaspard should look like over Kouta. That shrill voice should never come from someone that big.

"Hey, Haseo!" Kouta suddenly exclaimed.

"Uh, what?" Ryou was noticing the people watching them way too much. He never really was that sociable and a lot of people just made him feel tiny and insignificant.

"You still have to meet everyone else! Come on!" With that said, Ryou was whisked off his feet as the charging Kouta made a mad dash through the crowd, neatly dodging everyone and everything, a feat that was not wasted on Ryou.

"Haseo?" Kouta asked as soon as they stopped before a thick crowd.

"I thought... I was going to die..." He gasped a few times, because the fucking tree had just been waaaaaaaaay too close to his head. To taking it off, that was. "Are you on a sports team?"

"No..." Kouta looked sadly at a man in an obnoxious green blazer that emphasized what shoulders he had and his thin waist. Come to think of it, he was standing on a wooden park table, talking to the group as a whole.

"There are vendors over that way, if you need anything." The man gestured over to the way that Ryou and Kouta had come from. He paused, noticing Ryou. His eyes dragged across Ryou's slowly, as if he were stuck in them, then flicked them away.

Ryou didn't need any introduction to know that the man's name was Yuuichi. Ryou watched Yuuichi think, and though to himself, _This is going to be an interesting party._

Another man jumped on the table beside Yuuichi and started talking in a voice almost as obnoxious as the other's coat. His brown hair shone and augmented his dashing smile.

"Hello! I'm Kuhn! I would love to meet each one of you all individually. Escpecially you." He pointed to someone in front and a group of girls broke out in titters.

"Kuhn! Don't use this as a oppurtunity to pick up girls!" Yuuichi said, chastising him. Yuuichi pushed at Kuhn to get off his table. Kuhn, unfortunately for Yuuichi, was a good three inches taller than him and much broader. He didn't move an inch.

Yuuichi sighed in defeat and looked up to address the people again.

"There are name tags up here, take one, write your Player Character's name on it and stick it on yourself." Yuuichi hopped off the table.

Kouta pulled in a breathe, and Ryou had a bad feeling as he opened his mouth. Before he could stop him, Kouta shouted, "Silabus! I found Haseo!"

People immediately located Ryou and began backing away. A girl actually screamed. Some dude shouted, "It's the Terror of Death!"

"Ryou!" Yuuichi greeted him warmly, blissfully unaware that people were staring.

WOW, Yuuichi thought. He was Tall, capital T and everything. He must be close to 6'5". And... Yuuichi reddened a bit at the thought, but he was very attractive. For a man. That is. Very lean and wiry. Very scary. Pierced. Not the kind of man any mother would let her child even talk to. But Yuuichi's mother was not here right now.

"Yuuichi..." Ryou was suddenly hit with a feeling of belonging, and the rest of the people faded from his sight. He knew now that he was among friends; he could live with this. This felt very nice compared to the rest of his life.

"Haseo!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

Ryou turned in time to see a little kid dash out of the crowd and hug his leg.

"What the...?" _I think he's getting tangled in my chains..._Ryou fretted.

"Haseo, I've been looking forward to seeing you!" A short person, an elementary school kid, was clinging to his leg for dear life.

Ryou was well aware of who this one was.

The kid looked up. In his bright blue eyes, Ryou saw the soft, giving look he had often seen when the kid was talking about his sister.

"Bo..."

"Yup!" He smiled a smile that was laced with the fluffiest things known to mankind.

"Hey!" A low girl's voice heralded him from one side.

"Uh...yeah. Are you... really Haseo?" The girl, around his age, scratched at her shoulder-length hair nervously. People stared at her, as if they were unsure of if this were a good thing, someone talking to the Terror of Death, or if she was another person to be feared.

Ryou had no problem placing her.

"Yeah. I'm really Haseo, Alkaid." Alkaid gave him a slightly shocked and embarassed look.

"Oh, okay. Just making sure!" She covered up her blush by turning to the side.

"Why don't we go sit down somewhere?" Yuuichi's voice snapped Ryou back to reality.

Everyone filed through the crowd. Someone was standing alone by the trees. He and Ryou locked eyes, and immediately knew the other.

"Endrance..."

"Haseo..." Endrance took a few steps toward Ryou. "How I've longed to meet you..."

Ryou didn't break eye contact with him. Yuuichi watched Ryou, wondering if, maybe, Ryou was gay and liked Kaoru. No. He thought as Ryou broke eye contact and invited him to sit with them. Just friendly. He couldn't be that lucky.

They sat slightly apart from the rest of the party. Ryou plopped down wherever, sitting his backpack on the ground behind him. Bo sat next to his foot, Kouta sat to one side of Ryou, and Endrance chose to be very close to Ryou on his other side. Alkaid sat on the other side of Endrance, who inched away from her, but still facing Ryou. Yuuichi completed the circle by sitting in between Alkaid and Kouta. The grass was cool as the sun began to set.

Yuuichi was the first to speak.

"Wow. This really got a little out of hand, didn't it?" He chuckled.

Ryou laughed. "That's an understatement."

"There's so many people here!" Kouta threw in.

"It's kind of scary here." Bo admitted.

"Didn't you come with a guardian?" Yuuichi asked.

"Yeah. I'm safe, because I brought Saku!" Bo's face shone happily. Ryou kept quiet, not knowing if anyone besides him knew that Saku lived inside Bo.

"What's your real name?" Ryou asked him instead.

"Iori." He said. "And Saku's name is Sakura."

"Sakubo..." Endrance said thoughtfully. Bo looked at him uncertainly.

"Um... Do I... Know you?" He asked Endurance

"Yuuchi!" A girl in a blue sundress took a running slide to come to a stop, squished between Alkaid and Yuuichi.

"Hi! Guys, this is Tomoki." Yuuchi made the needed introduction.

A chorus of greetings all around. She smiled and said, "I'm the Lord Partizan, Namida!"

"She looks like Natsume." Ryou noted. She gave him a funny look. She was unaffected by his looks, but wondered what he was talking about. "A Player with green hair." Ryou explained, fingering one of his own locks.

"Natsume?" Kimiko thought. "No, she said finally, "I don't know her."

Iori and Kouta had got into a discussion on Crimson Vs.; Iori knowing nothing on the topic, but interested. Kouta offered to teach him to play with his cards. Kouta and Iori moved behind Ryou's back, so as not to disturb the others. Endrance settled his hand on Ryou's. Ryou immediately pulled his hand into his lap, shaking off his hand.

"What... is your name?" Endrance asked Ryou, staring at him if he were the only thing in the whole world.

Yuuichi noticed Alkaid leaning forward to listen better.

"I'm Ryou." He blushed, feeling so different actually being in front of the people he knows so deeply. It wasn't like being in front of his laptop, wearing a FMD. They were actually here. It made everything so...weird. So exposed.

"Ryou..." Endrance tasted the other's name on his tongue. He had been thinking of the chance to meet the man behind Haseo, the man that gave him a reason to live again. In those times, in the first World, where he lost his reason, the hacked cat PC, Mia, he was extremely sad. He had thought of just dying a few times, but then if he died, he would never know if Mia had survived and was merely wandering The World, looking for him or the other wavemaster character she dreamed of. So, he played. Up until the last day of The World, R:1, he was desperately looking for her. When The World ended, he couldn't get past her. She was a beautiful memory, a computer program, his first love.

It crushed him. This was the beginning of his new life, searching the entire internet for information on her. Every little post of comment that another Player had posted on her had made him feel as if she was there, watching him, urging him to look harder, longer, faster, for time was growing short. The World came back to him, soon. He began the first day The World came back. So many searches, his life was renewed. He found a Mia-like character, but it turned out to only care about itself. Then...

He found the real Mia. Macha. Mia. The same. It was thanks to Haseo that he should feel this way. He scooted closer to Ryou and leaned against him.

"Hey! Kaoru!" Ryou blushed and pushed him off. Kaoru threaded his arm and fingers with Ryou's and grasped firmly. Ryou gave up trying to detach him from the other, so he merely looked away, huffy.

"Hey, Yuuichi." The girl next to Silabus said. All had been watching the spectacle closely for entirely different reasons and as soon as Ryou gave up, Kimiko began talking.

"What is it, Kimiko?" Yuuichi asked.

"I'm thirsty. Do you have anything to drink?"

Yuuichi rubbed the back of his neck and plastered on a grin. "Ah, no. I did have two bottles of Ramune, but I drank one, and I gave the other to a little kid... Do you want me to get you something?"

She nodded. "Thank you so much, Yuuichi." She said, purring over his name, as she handed him some yen.

She glared at Ryou, as Chika and Kaoru glared at her. This may be more interesting than the amazing fun he had been looking forward to.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

Yuuichi happily moved through the crowd, having a distinct feeling of being more at home than home could ever be. This was The World in reality. More comfortable than reality. He loved it to no end, as people began talking to him, without having an odd silence. Just like in the game. It was so fascinating. So fascinating, in fact, that he forgot he was in the real world, and he crashed into something about hip level.

"Oh, geez. I'm sorry!" He sputtered out as soon as he realised that he nearly tipped a woman out of her wheelchair. Another woman rushed to her aid, and righted the other.

"You should look where you're walking." She said as soon as she was done fixing the other. Her hair was an interesting amber brown, that glinted in the falling sun like it was on fire. The woman in the wheelchair fixed her glasses, smoothed her long blue hair on her head, and smiled.

"No need to worry, An. I'm perfectly okay." She said, raising her hand in a wave-like gesture.

"Are you sure?" An asked her, turning from Yuuichi. The blue-haired woman nodded.

"I'm really sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?" Yuuichi asked rubbing his neck. He wondered if they were sisters, or just friends. They didn't look anything alike, but they were extremely familiar with each other.

"No, that's alright." The blue-haired woman said, at the same time An said, "Yes, get some drinks." They stared at each other.

"I thought you were going to get something to drink?" The blue-haired woman asked.

"I was, but then this guy ran into you." Anger flared in An's eyes as she looked at Yuuichi again. They said, clearly, Keep away, or I kill.

"I can get some." Yuuichi offered again.

The anger died in An's eyes, as she looked upon the other woman.

"Did you want a tea, Mariko?" An asked.

"Yes." Her blue eyes were soft behind her glasses, and looked on An with the utmost affection.

An turned back towards Yuuichi. "A lemon tea, and a Coke for me." She handed a few hundred yen to him, and told him they'd meet him right here.

"Yes!" Yuuchi promptly got the drinks for his party and An and Mariko, and walked back to the girls.

"Here." He said, offering the tea to Mariko first, because it was in one of those paper cups that had a flimsy plastic top that might spill.

"Thank you." She was a very smily person, albeit a quiet one.

"Here you go." An took the offered Coke, and said a quiet thanks.

"Well, if you're all good, then-" Yuuichi was about to walk away, when Mariko called him back.

"Please, sit with us for a while. You must tell us about this New World."

"Do you mean R:2? Don't you play it?" Yuuchi asked.

"No." An answered. "We were just passing through the city when we saw the crowd."

"We did play R:1, though." Mariko added as Yuuichi sat near them.

"Has it changed much?" An wanted to know.

"I'm not quite sure. You see, I never played R:1, so I wouldn't know how it was before now." Yuuichi said, sadly. Then he perked up. "But the graphics have gotten so much better from just within this version, so the visual is probably so much cooler, and the headsets are all new..." He stopped speaking when he saw the two automatically reach for each other's hand.

"What?" An asked to his questioning stare.

"It reminds me of how we were when we used to play." Mariko said, unaware of Yuuichi's watch.

"Excuse me for asking, but... Are you related?" Yuuchi had to ask.

An and Mariko glanced at each other, both smiling small secret smiles.

"Ah. No." Mariko said.

"That would be weird." An added.

"We're engaged." Mariko said, matter-of-factly.

Yuuichi must've let off one of those surprised signs that girls pick up on, even when you think you are keeping all sorts of cool, because both of them looked at him.

"Do you have a problem with that?" An asked, a predatorial look now present in her gray eyes.

"No! No... It's just that..." Yuuichi trailed off.

"Just what?" Mariko asked helpfully.

"I-I'm sort of having a problem, that... has something to do with, that." Yuuchi finally managed to spit out after a while.

"Ohhhh." The other two said in unison.

Silence ruled for a while as the two kept exchanging meaningful looks, and Yuuichi played with the grass. It was more night than day now, and he would soon be unable to find the others soon.

"Do you have... any... questions? About this, sort of thing?" An asked.

Yuuichi thought, finger to mouth. Did he have any questions? Well, the answer to that was a resounding "YES" but the problem was he didn't know how to ask any of them. How was it? Did it feel right or wrong? Is there any trouble? Are others alright with it? How are you going to have children? Poor Yuuichi's head was spinning with questions so drastically, that An and Mariko had time to exchange one more look.

"Do you love him?" Mariko asked.

That snapped Yuuichi to attention. Did he love Ryou? Uh... Did lust count? He couldn't really be sure about it, because they had only just met in real life.

But then again. He knew Haseo very deeply, even it was only on the internet. Maybe...

"Yes." Yuuichi answered before he realized he had an answer.

An and Mariko watched him carefully throughout his entire thought process, and each recognized that goofy-looking grin starting on his lips and that faraway look in his eyes. They had seen it many times on each other's faces.

Yuuichi looked up to find them both smiling. Then realixed what he said wasn't exactly the best thing in the world, this one or any other, for near complete strangers. He jumped to his feet bowed, and said, "I'm sorry! I'll leave now."

He turned and heard An shout behind him.

"You don't have forever to get her! You might want to hurry if you want to spend as much time with her as possible!"

Yuuichi was about to turn around and say, "No! We're talking about a firey hot man!" Then realized to the many bystanders, this was natural. This was okay. He realized that he did want to spend as much time with Ryou as possible. And he did not have anywhere close to forever to nab him. He had one night.

Just one.

He grinned at the two girls. "Thank you."

He sprinted to his target, now feeling much like a wolf on the hunt.

What he was hunting wasn't prey, it was flesh. Ryou's.


End file.
